With the recent announcement by Joni Mitchell that she has suffered with this psychosomatic issue for years, it is time once again to talk about echo-chambers, enabling communities and profiteers online and offline.

It's not that conspiracy theory profiteers are disappearing, far from it. Social media has made it easier than ever to make a straw man out of the 24 hour news cycle for those who believe in an all-encompassing conspiracy. Meanwhile, their friends and family trying to convince them otherwise has much the opposite effect.

Written by Derek Hawkins (Washington Post) A Florida woman who claimed the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax was sentenced Wednesday to five months in prison for … Continue reading Sandy Hook hoaxer gets prison time for threatening 6-year-old victim’s father

I know a fair amount about conspiracy theories. When I was growing up, my father would regularly allude to any number of possible culprits behind the assassination of President John … Continue reading Getting Specific: Founded and Unfounded Conspiracy Theories and Why it Matters Now.

By Brian Tashman (Right Wing Watch) In recent days a report from Washington D.C.’s Fox affiliate on the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich has dominated the conservative … Continue reading Fox’s Seth Rich Conspiracy Theory Falls Apart: ‘Investigator’ Admits He Has No Evidence

By JAMES DOUBEK (NPR) People are prank calling President Trump’s new office to report illegal “criminal aliens” — just not the type of “aliens” President Trump had in mind when he … Continue reading People Are Reporting Criminal (Space) Aliens To New ICE Hotline

Originally posted by Yahoo7 News Sham miracle healer Belle Gibson is touting the remarkable diet regime similar to the one she said cured her of a brain tumour but also … Continue reading Cancer faker Belle Gibson trumpets the miracle workings of a new herbal-fasting diet

Alex Jones Endorses Rand Paul: ‘America Needs Real Change’

Alex Jones Endorses Rand Paul: ‘America Needs Real Change’

Hot off his surprise interview with the reclusive Matt Drudge, the excited radio host texts to say he thinks Clinton is ‘too corrupt and evil’ for the presidency—and Paul is his man.

In late September, Rand Paul announced that he had been endorsed by eight people: Fox News’s John Stossel; his own father, former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul; Reps. Mick Mulvaney, Justin Amash, Thomas Massie, Cynthia Lummis, and Raul Labrador; and Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Pat Miletich.

Paul can now add one more name to that impressive list: professional conspiracy theorist and iodine salesman Alex Jones, host of the Alex Jones Show and founder of Infowars.com.

On Tuesday, the reclusive right-wing blogger Matt Drudge made a surprise appearance in Jones’s studio while the radio host was on the air. Jones could hardly contain his excitement, and the pair proceeded to have an in-depth conversation about the media and politics, with Drudge warning several times that the United States is in danger of ending up with “Hillary’s brain in the Oval Office in a jar.”

I texted Jones on Wednesday while I watched the interview to ask him if he agreed with Drudge’s assertion that Clinton is, besides being unfit for the presidency ideologically, too old and unwell to serve. “She is too corrupt and evil!” Jones replied. “America needs real change.”

When I asked if there were any candidates he thinks are not corrupt and evil, he said, “Rand Paul for sure.”

Jones said he’s sure of this because “I have watched him for a long time and know him.”

That’s true. Jones has said he first heard Paul on the radio in the 1990s, while the ophthalmologist helped his father, Ron, campaign for reelection to Congress. Ron Paul has been a frequent guest on Jones’s show, and Infowars.com republishes his columns—including his latest, “I Wish Nobody Was Bombing Syria.”

In 2009, just a few months into Rand Paul’s campaign for the Republican nomination for the Kentucky Senate seat he ended up winning, Paul appeared on Jones’s radio show to offer his opinion on what he called the “scary” trend of “political profiling.”

Jones was impressed by what he heard.

“It’s just weird how time flies,” he told his listeners. Now it was clear to him that Paul would “probably end up being president if we’re able to turn this country around. He’s got a real shot at it, except for the electronic voting machine fraud. I can read the tea leaves, as anyone can.”

Jones told me he will be voting for Paul.

Asked if the senator had any comment or if the campaign planned to announce Jones’s endorsement publicly, a spokesman did not respond.